Stars say there are two ways to tell if you have arrived - you appear on Parkinson, or on the front cover of the Radio Times. As Sharon Osbourne put it when she was chosen: "Front cover of Radio Times? That's fucking better than the fucking cover of fucking Rolling Stone."

For more than 80 years the Radio Times has been the BBC's golden goose. But in an age of electronic programme guides (EPGs), with younger rivals snapping at its heels, is Radio Times not behind the times? With the latest ABC figures about to be unveiled, its editor, Gill Hudson, admits that it has been a "pretty tough" year.

RT has faced rivals' price cuts, internet listings and a ban on the free trails that it used to get on the BBC. Yet Hudson says that RT's sales are still "astonishing". Other listings magazines are available, selling around 27m copies each week. So how does RT hang on to its 1m-plus sales?

Hudson has pitched the title as a trusted guide through the multi-channel TV wilderness. Since joining three years ago, she has shaken up the magazine. And it is constantly evolving. As we talk, she has an 18-page document in front of her with more tweaks that she is planning. Changes include increasing coverage of children's programmes - with more information and ratings so parents can monitor viewing better. Also, this autumn, RT will launch its own EPG in a venture with Rupert Murdoch's Gemstar.

Hudson is keen to point out that times are changing as RT competes with the 22m free listings guides given away each week. "On the face of it, as years go, it has been pretty tough because we've had another launch into our market and here we are at the premium end. It's tough by anybody's standards."

On top of that, TV Choice and What's on TV both cut their cover price by 10p. "I can't say what [the figure] is now, but our sales are quite remarkable in terms of resilience, absolutely astonishing. If you stripped out the price cuts, we've really held our own, and I think there'll be a significant difference [in the ABCs] between our performance and other titles," she says. Hudson admits staying above 1m is "talismanic". "We are above the 1m sales. The crucial thing is, are we holding up against the market performance?"

One of the reasons RT has held on to readers, she says, is the proliferation of channels. "It's supposed to be enjoyable and it's turning into a pain. You need guidance, you need someone to do that work for you, so you can have the things you like laid out on a plate. Radio Times is clear about who we're trying to reach. We've always stayed true to the quality end of the market. That will not change."

Despite recently shelling out £2m on a revamp and marketing campaign, plus an advertising campaign on UKTV, Hudson maintains RT, which is owned by BBC Worldwide, remains "the most profitable brand in the country". "The advertising is all budgeted for. We haven't lost out because of it. This is part of a long, evolving strategy that began when I joined three years ago - a personal editorial 'get this house in order'. Now we're talking about mobilising the entire brand. We're the only TV listings magazine to have a website that's very well used. You can download RT onto your mobile or personal digital assistant and we're about to launch an EPG in the autumn."

This EPG will not just give times and titles, but will be the first with editorial in the form of film reviews, ratings and RT's daily choices. It's a different beast from the magazine Hudson joined, which she acknowledges had had a "bumpy ride". When she arrived - after a career that included the launch of Maxim, editing New Woman and launching BBC's women's title Eve - she admits she made "no secret" of the fact that she did not want the job.

She gave it six months, stripping out costs that were not delivering, including "columns and regulars that were cluttering up the magazine." She also won more exclusives by upping the magazine's profile, getting out to launches and parties and telling TV controllers "This is not a house magazine of the BBC."

She laughs, then sighs. "People don't believe this. If you look at the covers, I absolutely acknowledge that a majority would be BBC programmes. But that's because when you think of our audience, who are interested in quality programmes, and I challenge anyone to knock me on this, still they are more likely to come from the BBC than anyone else, because that is where the heartland of Radio Times's interest is. Nevertheless, the covers of the first few issues of the magazine this year were awash with ITV dramas because they were the best thing on that week."

Radio Times will "absolutely not" go down the price-cuts route, but Hudson does want more adverts, hopefully on ITV, Channel 4 and Five. This would compensate for the loss of on-air trails - the BBC stopped them after rivals' cries of unfair competition. There will also be more exclusives, polls and surveys, to get wider publicity for the magazine.

Hudson says exploiting new media has helped to "reach out" to a younger generation, as have time-saving features such as the RT Recommends panel. But she scoffs at the idea of RT modernising its name: "You wouldn't ever call a magazine Good Housekeeping now but it's one of the best magazines out there for its audience."

But she admits: "There is no room for complacency, the market's changing so quickly." That includes the recent launch of the new compact, TV Easy. Would Radio Times shrink to fit the market? "I wouldn't rule anything out but I remember that when Heat was at its hottest, people said 'I suppose you'll have to do more celebrity in Radio Times', and I just looked at them and said 'What and sell half what we're selling? You're bonkers!'"

In the US, the reverse has happened. Veteran compact listings bible TV Guide is expanding after tumbling sales - cutting listings to fit in more entertainment stories. Don't expect that from Hudson: "I'd say that, on the whole, most Radio Times readers don't really care where Cat Deeley gets her shoes from".

There is no doubt about her enthusiasm for the magazine. She hopes to stay a while longer. "What's great is there's still an understanding that if you haven't made the front cover of the Radio Times, you haven't quite arrived. I get petitions to get on the cover. You don't hold on to that currency unless people believe what you do is good."

So how do you get an RT cover? Try getting to know Hudson's family. "One thing I often do when choosing covers is to stand back and say 'Does my brother know who that is? Will my mother care?'"